Duval schools will spend big on technology

The board and superintendent plan to pull millions from a special fund.

TIA MITCHELL

The Duval County school district has drastically increased the amount it spends on technology upgrades for local schools, but Superintendent Joseph Wise said it is still far short of what's needed to bring schools up to date.

At Wise's urging, during the 2007-08 year the district will draw $33.3 million for technology from a pot of local property tax dollars used for capital projects. State law considers technology upgrades an appropriate use of capital dollars.

The total technology budget is projected to be $54 million.

During 2006-07, the school system more than doubled the capital spending used for technology from $10 million to $24 million. The new money paid for science lab upgrades as well as the district rollout of three new software programs.

The increases are the first steps toward bridging a $93 million gap in technology spending first identified last year. However, Wise and other district officials say closing the gap entirely will require a huge influx of cash, renewing their interest in a voter-approved tax increase. However, officially the district is not pursuing such a measure.

Wise said his decision to beef up spending is based on his research of high-performing schools.

"You see a huge use and utilization of technology with students to enhance their learning by increasing their engagement and focus and time on task," Wise said.

The software programs can instantly adjust to individual student needs and deficiencies, making classroom teachers more effective and improving student achievement.

School Board Chairwoman Vicki Drake said she supports the increased investment in technology because student response has been positive.

"The technology is the way that they get it. If you're really going to reach children, you have to reach them at the level where they are," she said.

According to the school system's newly approved technology plan, $15.6 million in capital dollars will be used next year for retrofitting older schools with better wiring; $8.5 million will go toward a new computer system to track and store student data, and $4.8 million will be used to upgrade a computer program that manages the school district's business operations.

The long-range plan also calls for spending $10 million to replace one-fifth of the district's computers every year.

The bulk of technology spending is through capital dollars from property taxes, though operating funds from the state and federal money are also utilized.

Wise said the increased spending on technology is just catching Duval County up to other districts. But there is still a need for the public to finance the kind of gadgets that he thinks today's students truly require, such as iPods loaded with audio textbooks and SMART Board, which allow teachers to project images from their computers onto interactive whiteboards.

Wise said he is cautiously optimistic voters would support a bond referendum to enhance technology, but he's not sure when or if the time will come to ask for it.

Drake isn't as sure. She said the challenge is helping voters, many of whom were born before the Information Age, to understand why the latest software and hardware has a place in the classroom.

"I've still got that huge population that doesn't understand why kids need computers," she said.

The last time the School Board ask voters to approve a bond was in 1987, which was a successful bid that resulted in $199 million in revenue to pay for dozens of school construction and maintenance projects. The last payment on that bond issue will be next year.

Drake said timing is also a concern. Property tax reform in Tallahassee could eventually translate to higher local rates to pay for city services. That will make it even harder to ask for a tax increase to pay for school upgrades.